The most common free advice is live in the present or in the moment because the past is over and we do not know about the things to come in the future.

In theory, it sounds good but it is difficult to implement in reality, there are certain things that reminds us of the past, we assume that we were happier earlier especially when things are not going well at the present time.

When we face difficult times, it is natural to hope and plan for a better future, unfortunately by the time we reach that point, something else takes place that is completely different from what we visualised. 

Everything in life goes through stages or cycles of highs and lows, in our current situation we work and find it difficult to make ends meet due to various factors such as economic conditions, exchange rate fluctuations, inflation, cost of living and many more which affects our lifestyle and our standard of living.

The immediate reaction is to remember how we were happy and did not face any difficulties because when we were children and had our parents to take care of our needs.

There are others who react by planning in advance, this is a good thing but it is risky and we must be prepared to face the consequences if things do not go according to plan.

For example, there are many options available to us when it comes to investing our money such as fixed deposit, recurring deposit, mutual funds, the stock market etc., all these investment alternatives come with a disclaimer, past performance is not an indicator of future results.

When we are growing up, we are not satisfied with living in the present, we keep wondering about what it like to be an adult and how much fun it must be to live without the constant stress of being among the best and the brightest.

Once we complete our education, the most important aspect of our lives is our career, it does not matter how much you studied, qualification does not automatically put you ahead in the rat race.

If you are a fresher, then the company tells you that they are looking for experience and if you already have experience, then your suitability will be determined on other factors like salary expectations, reason for job change etc. 

The point is that in order to live in the present, you will be judged by what your achievements in the past with no guarantee that this will help you to look forward to a better future.

Living in the present does have its plus points, we need to stop focusing on changing the past and thinking about how we could have done things differently and trying to predict the future which rarely goes our way.

We need to live in the present because time and age marches forward, be aware of what you want to achieve, don't waste your efforts on what is done on what might have been.